Dman

Totally agree with you. Vallimont had the bases loaded with no outs in his final inning. He saved himself by striking out the next two batters and then Moran came out and K'd the last guy. He was lucky as he was just a bloop hit away from disaster but his ability to strike guys out can be an equalizer. While I like Vallimonts stuff I wonder if he ends up in the pen as some predicted early on for him. He seems to tire as the game goes on that is when he appears to get "more hittable" IMO. Interestingly he and Varland have almost identical stats. Varland at A ball and Vallimont at AA. Both have excellent\elite K rates but both could stand be just a bit less hittable.

If Donaldson can keep hitting like he has been and stay on the field until the deadline the Twins might be able to work out a deal with someone. I agree that if they eat some money or take a player back on slightly better years and salary they might be able to get something done. If they are able to unload Donaldson I would hope they would invest the savings into an extension for Berrios or Buxton.

I know this years draft is short on elite hitters but wondering if this is the year the FO goes with arms early. Given that so many of our best pitchers are out injured and being that our young hitters are already arriving or have arrived at MLB seems like young pitching is the only thing holding this latest rebuild up. Investing in some quality college arms could provide some backup for the in house options they have and with any luck those arms should only take two years to reach impact status. Twins need arms for the rotation and pen so lot's of arms needed. While the Twins are not out of it yet they appear to be deadline sellers and it is generally easier to trade for hitting at the deadline than pitching. So they could could focus on pitching in the draft and hitting at the deadline. Will have to wait and see as they like those slow corner outfielders early in the draft and Ethan Wilson has to look tempting. I like both pitchers mentioned in the article but if the Twins are going to go with a hitter Conner Norby has good traits to be successful. Hitting 400 takes a very good eye and that generally translates very well. The guys the Twins picked in 2019 that have done the best both have good eyes at the plate (i.e. Steer and Julien). Their walk to K ratio is almost equal and they both can hit for power. Norby looks similar to me. Unless teams don't see the power translating seems like a long shot he will last until pick 44. I guess 2nd base generally isn't a priority for most teams but he looks like he has the bat to make it. Thanks for getting some names out there and getting us fired up for the draft. I am very curious as to what the FO will do this year.

Yeah I like Barnes but the one night great next night unbearable makes you feel like he can't be trusted on a MLB roster. He is close but he needs to be more consistent to get his shot. Hopefully he figures out how to make it through games when maybe he doesn't have his best stuff.

He has a sub 1 WHIP so not giving up lot's of hits or walks but when contact is made he is getting hit hard. 7 HR in 30 Inning's pitched, ouch!

Totally agree and you are correct he is just the only only that has done anything to this point. That is how bad it has been. They already cycled through Waddell and Law. Stashak hasn't worked out so far this year and Colome is far worse than Alcala. There just isn't much there.

Well you might have had nothing as the odds of the Twins signing him after his contract were low. At least they got something and if we had someone better than Alcala I assume we would use him but no one but Farrell has seemed to make a move to grab that spot. Pressly had his fair share of rough years until he found himself as well.

lol made my day. Yes it feels like that when it comes to Buxton.

Cabbage is quietly having a really good year at High A. As Seth has noted before the power is there he just needed to make better contact. He is getting older though so a level change would be nice. Not sure when MiLB hits the mid point but I would guess we see lots of change at that point. Was pleased to see Urbina have a three hit night. He has the skills just needs to figure out that breaking stuff. He is young for the level and I am hoping to see him have a great second half. After last night performance Miranda finally cracked the 1000 OPS mark. He has to be happy to be having such a great year so far. He has been a tough out and it seems pitchers have tried to pitch around him when they can but he has been patient this year. Hasn't been chasing as much as years past. Headrick has been far more good than bad at A ball but the WHIP of 2 last night is what scars me about him. He has this tendency to give up too much contact. He doesn't currently have have more hits than innings pitched but it is close. He limited the damage last night but it feels like there is more work to be done. His numbers do look good enough to move up and he is one of the few lefties we have. Here's hoping he gets just a bit better.

I agree this trade deadline may be the most important one for them so far. They need to get value for players on one year deals and it will be interesting to see how they handle the Berrios and Buxton situations. They have guys they could trade early in Kepler, Rogers, Arraez, and Polanco if they so choose or they can stand pat. They could try and work a deal to remove Donaldson, they have lot's of option's but they need to choose wisely because if things continue to move sideways they might be out of a job in the next couple of years.

Danny Ford and Lyman Bostock. I thought Bostock was superman. He could really jump and steal HR's. Was good with the bat too. I was mad when the Twins couldn't keep him and then he was tragically killed in Oakland. He was an amazing player and left an impression on me.

Well stated. Another team will have a hard time giving us back the value we think Arraez deserves because top 100 prospects generally project to do so much more. They are generally 3 tool or better players. He also lacks power and in todays game that is greatly valued. So as you point out he really does look like a 1 tool player. It is elite and hard to come by but I think he could be a hard sell to get the value you want back. I would still shop him but getting a deal done seems like a long shot to me.

I have been thinking about him as a trade candidate for most of the reasons you mentioned. Polanco covers 2nd and Gordon looks better in the utility role at least if his bat holds up. They have Miranda who plays second likely on the way and needing to be added to the 40 man. Lewis will need to be added to the 40 man. Palacios might need to be added if his bat plays well through a whole season. Things are looking tight at the 2nd\utility position. While Arraez has a good eye he doesn't hit for power and as you mentioned doesn't run all that well. That being said the eye and the bat are pretty special. The other issue is the team has 4 more years of control it almost seems to early to trade him. Also need to find a team that needs an OBP 2nd base\Utility player with the pieces we need to get back in trade. Not sure if that is something they can or really need to pull off at the deadline but it is something they need to consider. For me he makes the most sense to trade but there is plenty of room for disagreement.

The only starters left uninjured that I would like to see in MLB are Winder and Balazovich. But if they hit their innings limit around the deadline then they won't get much experience anyway. It is kind of frustrating because they won't start with the big league club next spring either as they want to give them time at AAA before bringing them up. Then they will likely have to wait for an injury to get called up. It feels like to have any shot next year they need the young pitching to move up but who knows maybe they have another plan? It is starting to feel more like a mini rebuild now to me.

Those are some excellent points and things that hadn't crossed my mind even though they should have. You are right they will be very careful with innings pitched.

I really liked your article reminding us how valuable elite Lefties can be on the trade market. Especially at the deadline. Top 100 prospects have been traded for elite relief. IMO it is a little bit dangerous to assume Allen comes back and back as strong as ever from TJ surgery so there is some risk there. I don't have a great mind for trades as I am generally biased about the players in the Twins system because I follow them more closely. If Allen is as good as predicted it sounds like a very good trade to me. Picking up mid to front line rotation piece is exactly what the Twins need.

You are dead right. AA and AAA generally aren't considered that "different" to the point that players get promoted directly from AA at times. They are probably keeping him there for All Star honors and with so many injured pitchers maybe there isn't really anyone to move up and into his spot. He has to be added to the 40 man at the end of this year so they will add him but they will probably wait until the deadline to make that move though. I just think it would be nice to see how he handles AAA for a good solid month before they likely try him out at the MLB level. As you noted what I think likely doesn't matter one way or the other.

I guess if a 101 win season isn't capitalizing on the talent they had then your bar is pretty high. Yeah they failed in the playoffs again but the "players" that you say put them in such a great situation failed so not sure what you are trying to say there.

I was going to write something similar but you said it better. I too want to give them more time. COVID really messed this FO and team up. The timelines are going to need to change with it. The pitching pipeline looked pretty good but with all the injuries this year it is definitely going to be delayed now. The tough part about pitching too is those guys can look good at AAA but MLB is a whole different animal we really won't know what we have until they get to MLB. Getting back to Tom's point of is my faith shaken in the FO\development system I have to say yes. They went from success's like Harper and Wisler to penultimate failures in Shoemaker, Colome, Happ, Waddell, etc. They lost a good player to Rule V while using the 40 man space to dumpster dive. A lot of their trades have not been that good. Their power over hit draft strategy hasn't really payed off and there were good arms they passed over to grab Rooker, Wallner, Sabato. All slow footed position limited players with the least trade value unless they make it big. I hate being a second guesser because hindsight is too easy but I really don't understand the rookie mistakes or odd moves this FO makes sometimes. Still They have found some gems especially pitchers in the later rounds something the previous FO was not able to do. I think player development is vastly improved in the minors but will have to wait and see. This year has been a strange one with injuries, poor play, poor execution, and just plain bad luck. It is going to be a learning year. The challenge now is to make the most of it by making good trades and putting this team in better position to succeed next year. For me I need to see two more years before I can say whether this FO has been good or bad.

Winder is the main story from last night he has a sub 2 ERA at 1.98 a sub 1 whip at 0.93 and more K's than innings pitched. I honestly don't know what more he can do to prove he is ready to move up. To be honest they could have started him in AAA he was likely already, ready. Anyway let's see if he can sneak that stuff past some of those older seasoned AAA bats. If he can he looks like one of the few guys that will be ready to pitch in MLB. What a way for the Kernal to win that first game. A walk off grand slam and first HR of the season for little man Gabriel Macial. That is just beautiful baseball. He battling the pitcher, fouling stuff off and then game over. David beats Goliath. Bechtold has really started to heat up. He is rock solid defensively so if he can get that bat working he has a chance. Anyway another fun night and lots of wins as well. It has been a fun MiLB season so far.

Klofenstein is interesting but Zuech no way. I can think of about 5 to 6 guys we have already that look better than him. I would rather have Sem Robberse than Zuech. At least he has potential to be above average in time. Klofenstein has been far from a K machine but he is young for the level and holding his own. It would take Norge Vera (#7) or Andrew Daiquist (#5) to get me interested in anything the White Sox have. We have plenty of bats for 2nd and third base where Rodriguez projects. I mean Spencer Steer looks better than this guy ever could be so why even trade Cruz for someone like that? Criswell looks OK but he also looks injured so would want another GCL or A ball prospect added to make that work for me. Don't know what his issues are but if TJ is likely involved gonna need more. Maybe I am dreaming too big for Cruz but he does have a big bat and would be a true difference maker in the playoffs. I guess we will have to wait and see how badly someone wants him.

I think those types of trades are more likely to happen in the off-season than at the deadline. We don't see quite as many of them as we used to as it hard to match up with years of service and the value both teams want. I think with analytics it makes those MLB vet to MLB vet trades harder to do. I like what you are thinking though. I would consider the type of trade you are talking about for Donaldson. If we had to take on the other teams 3rd baseman and add some money depending on the player, contract and years left I could see the Twins doing something like that. You are correct that the trend right now is to seek out high end prospects. Prospects that look like they will make it at the MLB level and be above average there. Those trades are full of risk because if the prospect(s) bust you just got nothing for a very good MLB player but that seems to be the way the game is played right now.

Yeah they are very close all the way up and even in MLB. Their OBP is not as different as I remembered but I am still going to go with Larnach. Maybe it is biased by Kirilloffs poor spring or the fact he reminds me of Rosario or that his wrist seems to always be dinged up or just a feeling Larnach will be more stable but that is who I am going with. They have essentially been Twins to this point but I am guessing they will separate themselves in time. It should be a fun battle to watch.

I don't completely disagree but I think OBP and OPS are on Larnach's side right now and show it will work better in the end. I haven't had a ton of chances to watch either one so my opinion could easily be biased but when I have watched via gameday I have seen Kirilloff swing at a number of pitches low and out of the zone. That area concerns me because Sano used to swing at that Stuff Buxton used to when he first came up as did Rosario. I just think in the end Larnach will be more disciplined. I guess we will have to wait and see.

Larnach has the better approach and his OBP will always be higher. Kirilloff has the better swing and he makes contact more. They are two pretty different players. I think it is going to be close but I think the better approach will win out. Larnach will get more pitches in the zone because he is patient and I think in the end that will pay off more than Kirilloff's contact approach. For those that liked\miss Rosario say hello to Kirilloff. He is pretty close to the same batter and in time I bet he will be clutch like Rosario too. Maybe Kirilloff will have more plate discipline than I think but for me the more well rounded player will find a way to be slightly better and IMO that is Larnach.